The Batman
I finally got around to seeing THE BATMAN.
My favorite version of Batman is the one from the Christopher Nolan movies, but this was pretty good – I would give it a solid B.
It’s basically Batman as a 1940s-style noir detective navigating a world of corrupt local politicians, cops, and organized crime. Things take a turn for the worse when an insane serial killer who calls himself the Riddler starts killing corrupt politicians and leaving little puzzles for Batman to solve at the crime scenes. Batman teams up with Selina Kyle, a freelance thief who has her own reasons for targeting the Gotham City mob.
However, the Riddler has a lot bigger plans than just offing a few corrupt officials, and unless Batman figures out the final riddle, a lot of people are going to die. This version of the Riddler is a very 21st century-style villain – a madman with a vast, anonymous Internet following that thinks he’s on to something.
Poor Jim Gordon is, once again, the only honest cop in Gotham, though that saves him from showing up on the Riddler’s radar.
The movie is definitely a darker version of Batman, but Batman is a pretty dark character – as Lucius Fox said in THE DARK KNIGHT, Batman’s a “vigilante who spends his nights beating criminals to a pulp with his bare hands.” Not the activity of a psychologically balanced person!
I did like how this was a more “grounded” version of Batman, one who deals with very realistic and modern problems instead of one who spends his time fighting aliens and space wizards. And if you took out the superhero elements and made Bruce Wayne into a private investigator instead of a costumed vigilante, this totally could have been a 1940s private eye film, complete with genial yet ruthless crime lords, corrupt local officials, and femme fatales. Philip Marlowe would have fit right in.
So, if you like 40s style crime movies, I think you would definitely enjoy THE BATMAN. Granted, the movie is about 30 minutes too long, but I still think it’s worth seeing. Especially on streaming, where you can pause for bathroom breaks. 🙂
-JM
You’re assessment is fairly spot on as I believe it was reported that the writers and directors were using the Batman year one comic arc as inspiration for this version of Batman which is why they wanted a younger actor to play Bruce Wayne. They wanted to show a Batman who was early in his career.
They do seem to have nailed it, if that was what they were trying to do.